The Big Mistake Everyone makes in Hospitality That Cost’s Thousands.

And how to Remedy it…

Having been in the sector for over 26 years witnessing the big mistake everyone makes including myself back in the day I felt compelled to write about it. Even the best operators that I have ever seen still suffer this error. The cost of this to the economy runs to millions every year and it costs individual hotel, restaurant and gastro pub owner operators thousands annually. To be honest it’s pretty much evident where anyone sells anything to the public. Today I am going to talk of one major way you lose a lot of money. Staff steal and there are 8 other main ways they lose your money but this is the big one.

The Big Mistake.

“NOT CHARGING CUSTOMERS FOR ALL THAT THEY BUY”

Yes Staff do steel but the most overlooked way  of losing money is not theft  , it is not billing for all produce that is served.

You’re probably saying “what the (expletive) is this guy on about”. Stay with me for a moment and let me share some experiences I have had as a customer and consultant to illuminate this issue and remedy it.

The Plot thickens.

When you read this, you will instinctively know this (has happened) happens in your own business some of the time. If your brutally honest with yourself, you will admit it is happening far too frequently or worst case scenario all the time.

You know this already.

You are aware of this because barring you are perfect and inhuman, that is someone that has never made a mistake, in all probability you have made this mistake yourself, and on more than one occasion.

I will share with you 3 examples.

Example 1

So back to the point .I was conducting a series of secret shoppers for a client. This client ran a very busy large bar and restaurant. They wanted to know for sure that the experience being delivered was at the standard they wanted. In fairness, the service was great and the food quality wonderful. They gained great peace of mind knowing that their operation was delivering what they had expected from a service & food quality point of view. I would give it 8 out of 10 based on my shopper criteria for delivering a great experience.

However, the kicker came when I got the bill. I was there with my wife and two young children. We had 2 mains a kid’s meal and baby bowl, 6 Minerals and 2 coffees. (I am not a stingy guy the baby had his bottle and content with it). When I paid the bill, I noticed some things were not charged for. The baby bowl, the 6 minerals and the coffee’s. Some alarm bells rang in my head.

This may seem an extreme case or Murphy’s law so to speak as it happened to my table whilst conducting a secret shopper.   The loss in revenue here was €22.50. That was on just one table at lunchtime. Remember McDonalds Law, that is Murphy was an optimist.

It Strikes again , Example 2

A group of my friends were staying in a hotel. Myself and my wife and 3 other couples had a meal together. We had a great time. Food was great, service was great, we could not fault anything. As it was my birthday my friends would not allow me to pay. I was happy. Later that night when we were at the bar one of my friends said to me “Anthony this crowd need your help “so I asked why. He said we had 4 bottles of wine with Dinner and we were only charged for 2, he also said don’t worry I went back and paid for it but for god’s sake how can staff get away with not charging for drinks. This incident would have cost the hotel €75.00

Lightning Strikes again ,Example 3

I was with a client one afternoon and he was seething. He had just received his stock report back and the variances were massive and currently unexplainable. That is the stock taker did not know what happened but did give several possibilities each less desirable than the last to what might have happened to the unaccounted-for stock.

In a 4-week period, there was over €1200 missing in stocks. After weeks of looking at cameras, being suspicious of all his suppliers and that the staff were taking stock he got to the bottom of it. When the business was busy everyone got drinks from the bar to serve and a great many did not go on bills.

I have come across these scenarios and many similar ones over the years. They are  not as uncommon as you might think.

Sh1t happens.

You see the big mistake “Not Charging Customer for all they Buy “happens in most businesses in the sector. How often it happens of course is another story.

So, what does this cost businesses. Let’s just say that in a busy establishment the chances of few things not going on the bills regularly is a strong possibility. A Dessert here and there a few coffees the occasional bottle of wine.  Let’s say all things considered it could not be more than €150 per week that would be €7800 per year in lost sales. If you are a large business it could be much more or a smaller business less. But the point is, it happens.

So, what can be done about it

What can be done – Firstly here is my unadulterated pitch, contact me (email info@anthonybeale.ie  or click here and book a call) and we will get you sorted.

Ok back to the solution you can do yourself. To resolve this, one simple thing needs to happen. Implement a policy.

This policy looks simple, sounds simple, should be simple but sometimes requires adherence from the top and follow through.

It is NO DOCKET – NO PRODUCE.

What I mean here is that never should anything leave the kitchen or bar area without first going on the correct table on your till system and a printout comes out in the relevant area. That is the simplest solution but everyone needs to follow it including the boss and be seen to do it too.

Here is a simple process to solve this problem.

• Have a meeting and co -Create the Procedure
• Get the Buy in
• Implement it and follow through.

There is a bit more to this and that’s why I have wrote How do I create procedures that are implemented click here to read it

If you would like to know the  9 ways staff lose you money  so you can assess if the problem applies to your business click here.

If you want to learn more on how to create your own procedures and standards,  book a complimentary kick start session with us.

On this call, we will take roughly 15-20 minutes where you will leave a solid clear plan around the 12 month results you want to achieve and 3 key action items you need to complete to kick start your business within the next 90 days.

Click here to schedule your Kick Start Session.